Inhaler apparatus



Dec. 26, 1950 c. F. LOMBARD 2,535,938

INHALER APPARATUS Filed Dec. 27, 1946 [/Yl/E/Y70Q, OharrZesFLombard 5y @QAW ZZJATTOQ/YEK drawn into his lungs.

patients face.

Patented Dec. 26, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE APPARATUS Charles F. Lombard, South Pasadena, Calii Application December 2'7, 1946, Serial N0. 718,853

4 Claims. ,1

This invention relates to inhaler apparatus fo administering gas to a patient, or to be Worn by pilots and passengers on aircraft, to supply them with oxygen while flying in high altitudes. This apparatus is also useful in administering gas to a patient, and in that aspect the present invention may be considered an improvement on the invention disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,248,- 477, granted tome on July 8, 1941. In my prior patent referred to, the inhaler included a mask having an impermeable outer wall with an opening at the side, adapting the mask to be applied to the face of the patient, to cover his nose and mouth. The lower edge of the opening seated on the patients chin, and the upper edge above, fitted closely to the bridge of the patients nose. Directly in front of the patients mouthand nose, a porous diaphragm is located. The gas to be administered to the patient, was admitted through a small tube that delivered the gas into the chamber at the back of the porous wall and between the porous wall and the wall of the mask. The oxygen admitted to the outer chamber, of course permeates through the porous wall, and when the patient inhales, the oxygen is When the patient exhales, the composition of the gas during the initial part of the exhaling movement, is substantially puregas, for the reason that when a patient exhales, the substantially pure gas that is filling the windpipe and the upper portion of the branchial tube, passes out first, and it is only the latter part of the exhalation that carries gas or air that is vitiated by the carbon dioxide imparted to it from the patients lungs.

In the operation of the apparatus covered by my prior patent, the first portion of the gases exhaled, pass through the porous wall into the outer chamber, to mix with the oxygen .or other gas coming into the outer chamber fromthe supply. As the exhaling movement continues, the pressure in the chamber immediately surrounding the patients nose and mouth, is confined by the porous wall and its pressure is raised slightly;

and at this time, the exhalation from a patient is composed of a greater percentage of carbon dioxide gas. The raising of the pressure in this inner chamber adjacent the nose and mouth, causes an escape of this portion of the exhalation through, or around the edge of, the porous wall, which is not perfectly sealed against the In fact, if it is desired, small outlets may be provided to insure the leakage of this later portion of the exhaled gas, into the atmosphere.

Of course, due to the difference in size of their vfillfi i av i s, here is considerable range in h quan ity f ai or gas that passes into and out of the lungs of difierent patients, during each nha o Qycle, b t th mask on t d a cordance with my patent, necessarily has a fixed max mum ro ume. T is pa ti ular adapts the device for a patient haying a certain lung ca p-acit or volume of exhalation, but renders it slightly less effective in operation when mployed on a patient having a re ter or s all olume of gas inhaled and exhaled in each inhaling cycle.

one or the ob ects of this i tent on i to ovide an inhaler which will overcome this diniculty, and whi h w l provide a th mhcr and breather has :for receivin t e pat e ts exhalations, :the aolume of which can be adapted to the quantity of exhalation of the patient; also, to provide a body for the breather bag, the vole ume ,of which can he readily altered at a mot ments notice, to adapt it to the natural volume of exhalation of the patient [to which the ,device is going to be applied.

,In my prior device referred to, the porous wall r diaphragm is constructed as a perman nt l ment of the device to .be used by any patient to which the device is to be applied. Que of the objects of the present invention is arirpwlfifl a construction tor the mask, that will obviate the necessity of employin this porous diaphra m and at the same time, to provide for effecting a sufficiently tight seal of the masl; to the face to enable it to function in the same general manner that my prior device functions, but in :a manner which will be more sanitary, in other words, in accordance with my present invention, insteadof providing the porous dia hragm, through which the exhalations pass out, pliovideatubular inlet connection to an outer chamber or has, and I use a soft gasket which is removably attached to the edge 0f the rigid bodyof the mask; and after using one of these askets with any patient, it is removed and a new, clean gasket is applied in its place, for use on the next patient.

In :the operation of .my prior device and present one, of course, in the firststa ges of the exhalation, there isa tendentyroi' each exhalation ,trorn the patients windpipe, :to raise slightly the pressure in the outer chamber of the mask. One of theobjects of thisinventipn is to provide "for ad- 'mitting the oxygen in such a way that it is ad- ,mitted in atmore or less diffused manner int the outer chambe t ward h o t m o e s: a d ina dir tion so that the ad ted oxysencann t flow directly into the inner chamber.

One of the objects ,of present invention, is

to provide a novel method and means for enabling an outer chamber, or breathing bag to be quickly made-to have the proper volume and attached in place so as to adapt it to the requirements of a certain patient, to be quickly produced and attached to the cooperating parts of the apparatus.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the nove1 method, parts, and combinations of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to'produce an efficient inhaler apparatus.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side elevation of my apparatus, and illustrating the same as applied to a patients face, as in practice.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l, but shows the parts of th apparatus substantially in crosssection, certain portions, however, being broken away and shown partly in elevation.

Fig. 3 is a plan of a short length of tubular material that I prefer to employ in practicing the invention, as the inflatable body to cooperate with the mask.

In practicing the invention, I provide a mask l of relatively rigid material, and for this purpose I prefer to employ a transparent plastic, in order to enable the patients nose and mouth to be readily observed by operators who are administering gas to the patient. This mask is of concavo-convex form so as to present a chamber 2 on its inner side, that is to say, on its open side which is to be applied to the patients face, indicated by the dotted outline 3.

In accordance with my invention, I employ a gasket 4 of relatively soft material, which is applied to the edge of the opening of the chamber 2. In order to accomplish this, I prefer to form the edge of the mask i into a flange 5, and the gasket 4 is formed with a groove 6 that extends continuously along the inner edge of the gasket. The gasket is composed preferably of a porous permeable material such as permeable sponge rubber, or the like, and presents a seat face i that also extends alon the edge of the mask, and which is adapted to rest against the surface of the patients face, along a line such as that indicated in Fig. 2. It is not necessary to form a perfect seal for this chamber 2 from the atmosphere. let through its wall, through which the exhalations from the patient pass downwardly into an inflatable body having an impermeable wall. In order to accomplish this, I prefer to provide a sleeve 8 of rigid material that is secured in an opening 9 in the wall of the mask, and this sleeve has a relatively large outlet duct l0 extending continuously through it. The lower or outer end of this sleeve is constructed so as to facilitate removably securing an inflatable body H to it. The inflatable body preferably is formed from a flexible tube 62 of suitable material, which readily collapses, and which can be readily inflated. Many different materials could be used for this purpose, for example, cellophane, flexible plastic tubing, or rubber. However, I prefer to employ thin rubber, which would be obtained in the form of a tube it? of uniform diameter. For a patient having considerable lung capacity, the tube l2 would be cut off to a relatively long length, but

The mask l is provided with an outif the patient has a relatively small lung capacity, or is breathing in such a way that it is advantageous to have a relatively small capacity for the bag or inflatable body II, the stock tube 12 can be cut off to any predetermined length desired, such as that indicated by the dotted line l3 in Fig. 3. After having cutoff the tube 12 to the desired length, its upper end is attached to the lower end of the sleeve 8, preferably by employing a tie I4 of thread, which is wrapped around the upper end of the tube after it is applied over the sleeve. In order to facilitate this and prevent the bag from slipping off the end of the sleeve, I prefer to provide the lower end of the sleeve with an outwardly projecting flange l5.

By reason of the fact that the tube i2 is of uniform diameter, it is evident that its capacity is proportional to its length. This enables the capacity of the bag formed from this tube, to be accurately determined.

The lower end of the bag 1 I is similarly secured by a tie it, to a low-er rigid member [1, which may be merely a button, the body of which is disposed between an upper flange i8 and a lower flange 99. However, I prefer to provide a valve 26 at this point, which is normally held closed by a small spiral spring Zila, and which can be opened at will by pressing up against its lower end to drain off any water of condensation or moisture collected from the patients exhalations.

In order to admit gas, for example, oxygen to he patient, I prefer to construct the sleeve 3 in such a way that this gas will be admitted into the sleeve, and then projected from the outer end of the sleeve downwardly toward the free end of the bag, and in a direction away from the mask I. In order to accomplish this, I prefer to provide the sleeve with an integral admitting nipple 2i, over which is applied a small hose 22 through which the gas passes inwardly under low pressure, and this nipple 2| has a duct 23 within it, which duct has an extension 2d preferably formed in the wall of the sleeve 8, and extending downwardly within the same. The lower end of this duct is carried in a delivery nipple 25, which projects a slight distance beyond the lower end of the sleeve. Thi gives opportunity to attach to the nipple 25 a small inlet tube, and diffuser 25, which is of tubular form. The function of this diffuser is to diffuse the oxygen or other gas as it passes into the bag.

The diffuser 26, is preferably provided with a plurality of more or less minute orifices 21, spaced along it.

The mask i may be attached to the patients face in any suitable manner, for example, by means of a strap 28, one or both ends of which are secured by snap buttons 29, such as illustrated in Fig. l, to the outer side of the mask. If desired, this strap 28 may have an adjusting buckle, or it may be of slightly elastic material; that is, it should have any construction which will insure that it will not become displaced after the mask has been applied to the patients face.

In the operation of this inhaler, as the patient inhales, of course a quantity of gas from the interior of the bag ii will pass into the patients respiratory tract, and will enter his lungs. When the patient exhales, of course the initial portion of the exhaling act, will return a considerable quantity 'of the gas being administered from the upper portion of the patients respiratory tract, and. this exhaled gas will pass through the outlet it down into the bag H, and produce a further inflation of the same. Toward the end of the exhaling movement, of course the vitiated gases from the patients lungs, will enter the chamber 2, and by this time the pressure in the bag Ii, will have arrived about at its maximum, and this pressure will be communicated to the chamber 2. There will therefore, be a leakage of gas from the chamber 2 between the seat face 'I' of the gasket and the surface of the patients face, or through pores of the gasket, or through small outlets provided in the gasket wall. The gas that leaks out in this way, will have a large percentage of carbon dioxide gas from the patients lungs; at least, the carbon dioxide gas will predominate in the mixture in the chamber 2, which of course will include a considerable quantity of oxygen or other gas being administered. In this way, a considerable saving in the quantity of gas being administered, results, but more important than that, is the fact that the mask and the rigid parts associated with it, are a all capable of being fully sterilized between operations; and each time the mask is employed, a new gasket 4 is used, and also a new bag H. In this way, the chances of infecting any patient from another patient using the mask apparatus, is reduced to a minimum. The rigid parts of the mask can be sterilized.

When this inhaler is worn by a person flying at high altitude, to give him an increased oxygen supply, there is of course a possibility that at a low temperature, moisture collecting in the bag at the lower end of the inlet tube 26 may freeze and close the lower end of this tube. In such an event, the perforations 2T operate to maintain communication at all times between the interior of the tube and the interior of the bag.

When masks of this type are worn by fliers or passengers on airplanes, flying at high altitudes, and where the temperature is low, considerable dimculty has been experienced due to the presence of moisture in the exhalations of the breath, which moisture lodges in the pores of porous walls when operating as outlets for exhalations; because such moisture condenses readily due to the low temperature, and also has been found to freeze, thereby operating even more effectively to clog up the pores. This of course reduces the efficiency of such a mask. In thi mask of my invention, the exhalations can only pass out of the mask adjacent to the surface of the fliers face, and the natural heat of the face assists in keeping the gasket warm; of course this reduces the tendency for the moisture to condense. In this way the porous gasket co-operates to increase the efficiency in the operation of this apparatus.

Many other embodiments of the invention may 6 be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an inhaler of the kind described, the combination of a mask having a chamber with an open side adapted to be applied to the patients face to cover his nose and mouth; means for admitting gas to the said chamber; a removable gasket of permeable porous material secured to the edge of said mask and adapted to seat against the surface of the patients face; said mask having an outlet for the exhalations from the patient; an inflatable body, with means for detachably securing the same over said outlet; said body being of such volume as to become inflated with the first portion of the gases of each exhalation; said gasket constructed so as to permit escape from said chamber of some of the gases exhaled in the latter portion of the act of exhaling.

2. An inhaler according to claim 1, in which the inflatable body is tubular and of substantially uniform diameter cut to a predetermined length; and including means for securing the end of said tube to said mask over said outlet.

3. In an inhaler of the kind described, the combination of a mask of substantially rigid material, having a chamber with an open side adapted to be applied to the patients face when administering gas to him; said mask having a flange extending along adjacent its edge; a gasket removably attached to the said flange and adapted to seat against the surface of the patients face; said mask having a sleeve extending therefrom; a bag removably secured to said sleeve, adapted to receive, and be inflated by, the exhalations of the patient; said sleeve having an oxygen inlet through its side wall, and means for admitting gas through the said inlet into said sleeve and for directing the same through the sleeve, away from the mask and toward the bag.

4. An inhaler according to claim 3, including a substantially tubular inlet for the said gas, extending downwardly into the bag and operating to receive the admitted gas; said inlet including a tube with perforations in its side wall for permitting the gas to escape into the interior of the bag gradually, and in a diffused condition.

CHARLES F. LOMEARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 810,769 Jones Jan. 23, 1906 2,228,502 Boothby Jan. 14, 1941 

